See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

An enclosed hut settlement 390m to the SW of Gutter Tor. An ovoid enclosure of 0.4 ha sited on level ground to the SW of Gutter Tor. The stony enclosure has been traversed by a later drystone wall, causing its survival on the western side to become more effaced than that within the later enclosure, but preservation is generally poor over the whole circuit and consists of low, turf-covered stony banks, spread up to 4m and a maximum of 0.3m high.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1012224: Enclosure with hut circles on Gutter Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE53
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 438650
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/3
• Old SAM County Ref: 573
• Old SAM Ref: 10595

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSED HUT CIRCLE SETTLEMENT (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, RAF/CPE/UK/2499, 4130-1 (Aerial Photograph). SDV257953.

(SX 57706677) & (SX 57726681) Hut Circles (1954 Ordnance Survey map). Not visible on air photographs.

National Monuments Record, 1976, NMR SX5766, 426-428 (Aerial Photograph). SDV232536.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX56NE53 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV231925.

(03/04/1979) Centred at SX 57686678 : A small settlement situated on a slight south slope just of the ridge to Gutter Tor.
The enclosure measures approximately 100 metres by 50 metres and is of oval form. Its bank, 1.5 metres wide and 0.5 metres high, incorporates occasional orthastatic slabs and posts; the original entrance is uncertain. Within are two huts of Type 2. One is built onto the wall in the north east, the other free standing. both have internal diameters of 5.8 metres with walling 0.6 metres high; the entrances are not clear in either. The third hut adjoins the enclosure and is of indeterminate type, composed of a bank of small stones 1.5 metres wide and 0.2 metres high and with an entrance gap in the south-east. Its internal diameter is 7.0 metres. Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1985, Aerial Photograph Project (Dartmoor) - Dartmoor Pre-NMP (Cartographic). SDV319854.

Enclosure incorporated into corner of field of field system. Two hut circles incorporated into southern boundary of enclosure wall. Length of unassociated ?walling to west of enclosure. Hut circle to immediate north of enclosure.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 116, Figure 49.5, Map 49 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Gutter Tor Settlement 'A' with Ditsworthy Warren boundary fence passing through the centre of the oval enclosure. Some short sections of wall survive but larger slabs have been removed allowing the cobble core to collapse outwards into a low bank. Two of the three internal hut circles still retain some slabs and are 6 metres and 5.5 metres diameter. Little remains of the third internal hut circle. A hut circle to the south of the enclosure gives the appearance of an excavated cairn with a raised rim and is marked as such on Ordnance Survey maps.

Fletcher, M. + Newman, P. + Probert, S., 1999, Drizzlecombe, Eylesbarrow, Ditsworthy and Hartor areas in the Plym Valley, West Devon (Report - Survey). SDV346268.

(16/02/2000) Three hut circles lie within the remains of an enclosure centred at SX5770 6679 They are located on an east facing slope in a cleared and once cultivated area. The group is bisected by a medieval head dyke and within the fields much of the enclosure wall has been robbed.
SX5772 6682 hut circle, levelled into the slope. It has a 6.2m internal diameter with a double-faced boulder and slab wall on average 0.5m high. The position of the entrance is not obvious.
SX5771 6679 the remains of a hut circle of 6.5m internal diameter the double-faced boulder slab wall, complete with some infill material, is on average 0.6m high. The position of the entrance is not obvious.
SX5766 6676 a partially buried hut circle located on a raised plot. The 0.4m high turf-covered stony wall encloses an internal area 6.5m across. The area lies in deep peat (citing Fletcher M 16-FEB-2000 English Heritage Field Investigation).

Whitbourn, A., 2001, An Archaeological Investigation into features comprising, and associated with, Ditsworthy Warren, 13-19 (Report - Assessment). SDV360381.

Bronze Age site.

Probert, S. A. J. + Fletcher, M. J., 2002, Plym Valley survey (Report - Survey). SDV350782.

Probert, S., 2005, Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey (Report - Survey). SDV363484.

(11/03/2005) These features remain as described by English Heritage (2000) and are in a stable condition.

Probert, S. A. J., 2010, A Condition Survey of the Archaeological Sites of Ringmoor, Dartmoor Training Area (Report - Survey). SDV360517.

Newman, P., 2018, Archaeological Sites within Ringmoor Training Area, Dartmoor National Park, Devon: A condition survey on behalf of Defence Infrastructure Organisation (Report - Survey). SDV361636.

Ordnance Survey, 2018, MasterMap 2018 (Cartographic). SDV360652.

'Settlement' shown on modern mapping as an oval enclosure with three internal hut circles. A 'Cairn' is shown to the south of the enclosure.

Historic England, 2018, National Heritage List for England, 1012224, DDV 22902 (National Heritage List for England). SDV360653.

Enclosure and hut circles south-east of Gutter Tor.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, UPRM-22 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

(29/01/2020) Condition assessed by volunteer recorders as ?very good, although vegetation is noted as an issue and some of the features could barely be ascertained.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs (Photograph). SDV363073.

Features photographed during January 2020 visit.

Newman, P., 2022, Ringmoor Down Premier Archaeological Landscape Dartmoor National Park, Devon. A new survey, Table 1 (Report - Survey). SDV365490.

An enclosed hut settlement 390m to the SW of Gutter Tor. An ovoid enclosure of 0.4 ha sited on level ground to the SW of Gutter Tor. The stony enclosure has been traversed by a later drystone wall, causing its survival on the western side to become more effaced than that within the later enclosure, but preservation is generally poor over the whole circuit and consists of low, turf-covered stony banks, spread up to 4m and a maximum of 0.3m high. Very few stones survive in situ, up to 0.6m high while a small number of others are displaced within the banks. There are three hut circles within the enclosure, of which (3978) one has survived in better condition. It has an internal diameter of 5.5m with walls spread up to 2.1m and 0.6m high. Elements of both the inner and outer wall facings remain in situ and an entrance opening is clear on the south side. The second hut (3977) to the north has far fewer stones in situ, but has a measurable internal diameter of 5.3m and walls spread up to 3.1m. The third internal hut (122237) and one hut on the exterior (3990), survive only as earthworks reflecting only the circular outline of structure robbed of all their larger stones.
Both are between 5.5 and 6m internal diameter. Surveyed at 1:500 scale using GPS, April 2022.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7443 - Condition survey of archaeological sites in Ringmoor Training Area
• EDV7551 - Ditsworthy Warren: An archaeological investigation
• EDV7569 - Condition survey of Ringmoor Down training area
• EDV8155 - Plym Valley Survey: EH Project (Feb 2001 - Dec 2002)
• EDV8227 - Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey
• EDV4966 - Survey of Drizzlecombe, Eylesbarrow, Ditsworthy and Hartor. The Eylesbarrow archaeological landscape
• EDV8917 - Survey of the archaeological features on Ringmoor Down

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.